About Me

Have always loved romance fiction, especially historical romances, and now have discovered paranormal and all kinds of different scenarios. After all, romance told against any background and in any configuration is grand!

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Monday, January 5, 2015

A Strange Christmas and A New Year

It was a tough Christmas for us this year. Early in December we were with almost our entire family as we gathered for an important family birthday celebration. But it was sad to have to say "Good-bye" just a few days later and know that the kids and grandkids were going home in all directions and we didn't know when we would be seeing them again.

As if that weren't bad enough, the dreaded "holiday virus" that seemed to afflict so many this year made a stop at our house. The Saturday before Christmas I began to have a very uncomfortable feeling in my chest and before another 24 hours had passed, I was one sick cookie. Add in the fact that between that Saturday and Christmas Day, I had been contracted to play the organ at eight -- that's right, 8 -- holiday church services in our area of Tennessee. I made it through, but by the last service on Christmas Day I was thrashed good and proper. My hubby had fallen ill on Christmas Eve, so instead of celebrating and sharing with the few family members living close by, we hunkered down in our blankets with our scrambled eggs and cottage cheese and toast and tea, and somehow got through the difficult days. It is definitely true that the older one gets the longer the recovery. We were fortunate that we both tested negative for the H1N1 flu. but the virus we did have was no fun either.\

Now it's a few days into the New Year and we are recovering well. But there is no doubt that it didn't come in with a blast, at least not at our house. We did get back on our feet sufficiently to get together with one of our daughters and her family for a scrumptious prime rib dinner, a trip through the community's "Galaxy of Lights" which was spectacular, and then a bit of a drive home before the party folks spilled out on the roads.

So now we look forward to some special things. Our daughter-in-law celebrates a birthday, our first great-grandchild has his first birthday this month, great-grandchild #2 is due to arrive early in February, and great-grandchild #3 sometime in April. That means lots of knitting of baby afghans and sending special stuff through the mail since we are a long distance from some of the action. Yet we are delighted as our family increases and as we see the new generations arriving. It is humbling to know that it all started decades ago with two people who fell in love in a train station in Chicago and somehow we have made it until now.

My prayer and hope for all of my friends, family, and followers of this blog are that you will all experience really good things this 2015, that when the down times come you will have the friends and support you need to weather the life storms, and that we will all continue to enjoy the best of good romance fiction along the way.

My own New Year's Resolution -- and the only one I am making this year -- is that I will be so much more consistent in touching base with all of you and keeping this blog in touch with the good books I am reading.

2 comments:

I'm glad you escaped the flu (which seems to be particularly terrible this year), but winter virus crud can be just as draining! I can't believe you soldiered through all those organ-playing commitments without passing out over the keyboard. No wonder you spent the holiday resting up! I need to rest up just reading about it!

No resolutions for me this year, other than allowing myself to DNF more if I'm just not "feeling" a book. And the ever present, keep up with my now *fingers crossed* regular exercise routine. Blah and fiddlesticks to that one ;)

I'm glad that you're feeling better these days but that sucked that you and your hubby were sick during the holidays.

You played the organ for 8 different services on Sunday? Talk about count your many blessings. You go, Dr. J!

I've made some challenges for myself, reading wise. Holly roped me into participating in the PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge that I thought would be a lot harder than it actually is. I'm also going to start reading more out of my comfort zone. Read more paranormals and dip my toes into urban fantasy and steampunk. So far, I'm rocking at that challenge. :)